What is life like in the Sundarbans? Annu Jalais Weighs In

In the second episode of Season 2 of From the Marginlands, Arati Kumar-Rao and Prem Panicker speak with environmental social anthropologist Annu Jalais, whose 27+ years of research in the Sundarbans reveals a world far more complex than standard conservation narratives. We explore human–tiger coexistence, forest labour systems, migration, gender shifts, and the hidden hierarchies reshaping life in one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. In this episode:
Why Sundarbans tigers behave differently
The ethics and risks of forest labour
Migration, education, and new hierarchies
Marriage, gender, and changing aspirations
Conservation, governance, and local realities
Climate change vs lived experience

SHOW NOTES

About Annu Jalais: https://krea.edu.in/sias/dr-annu-jalais/
Annu Jalais's published works: https://krea.academia.edu/AnnuJalais
Annu Jalais's Google Scholar page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?...

Book: Forest of Tigers: https://www.amazon.in/Forest-Tigers-P...

Book: The Bengal Diaspora: Rethinking Muslim Migration (Multiple authors): https://www.amazon.in/Bengal-Diaspora...

WATCH, LISTEN:

The story of the Sunderbans, podcast featuring Jalais, Arati Kumar-Rao and Rajesh Kumar Shaw:    • The Story of Sundarbans | Podcast Series |... 

Podcast: Tigers, tiger food, and mental health in the Sunderbans:    • Annu Jalais - Tigers, Tiger Food, and Ment... 

Podcast: Making ethnographic sense of beasts, people, wild environments:    • AfterLab with Annu Jalais: Making ethnogra... 

Podcast: The Sunderbans is losing ground:    • S3 Ep.3 The Sundarbans Is Losing Ground: D... 

Talk: Chronicling a Forest, at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet:    • Chronicling A Forest - Tata Steel Kolkata ... 

Podcast: Scholars Speak, with Annu Jalais:    • Scholars Speak; Episode 1 

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